Betting: Who is best pick in Midwest Region?
Frank Schwab gives his betting advice for the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region, including who will make the Final Four, top Cinderella pick and most likely 1st Round upset.
Video Transcript
FRANK SCHWAB: I'm Frank Schwab with Yahoo Sports, here to give you my betting preview for the Midwest region of the NCAA Tournament. We start there with the favorite to win the national title, that's the Houston Cougars. They're also favored, obviously, to win the region at plus 140 odds.
Next up, second odds, Texas, plus 400 to win the region. Third odds are Xavier, plus 1,000, and then fourth is Texas A&M, plus 1,200. Houston is a favorite to win it all, but I'm not taking them to make the Final Four. I really like the Texas Longhorns at plus 400, getting a little bit of value on them.
We all saw how well they looked in the Big 12 Championship game, beating Kansas handily. It's a very experienced team. They're good top to bottom. I really like the way the Longhorns have played all season. They showed a lot of mental toughness after the Chris Beard situation when he was fired. This Texas team, ready to go back to a Final Four.
I'll give you a Cinderella pick out of this region, too, somebody seeded a little lower. Texas A&M was under-seeded. I think we all know that, but that was because of stuff that happened November, early December. This Aggies team playing really, really well. They're second in the SEC, runner-up in the SEC Tournament.
Buzz Williams has this team playing tough ball. They play good defense. They're really balanced on both sides. I can see Texas A&M making a run. They're not your typical 7 seed, and at 12 to 1 odds, pretty good value for them to make a run and make the Final Four here.
Now let's look for a first-round upset in this region. I'm going to go with Kent State over Indiana, 13 over a 4. Kent State is a really good defensive team out of the MAC, played well in their championship game. They've played well against good competition this year, had close losses to Houston and Gonzaga, a couple of national title contenders.
Indiana, look, they're from the Big Ten. I'm going to be fading the Big Ten, as usual, in this tournament. So give me Kent State, straight up upset as a 13 seed.
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